Small articles, such as pharmaceutical pills or capsules, must be inspected after the manufacturing process has been completed and before they are packaged for sale. Pharmaceutical pills and capsules are produced and packaged rapidly in large quantities and therefore must be inspected rapidly. Among other types of inspections, each pill or capsule must be inspected for structural integrity to ensure that it is shaped correctly and does not have any missing parts, cracks, or holes.
Each pill or capsule has a plurality of surfaces that must be inspected. A round pill, for example, has a continuous circumferential surface that must be inspected. A pill with a rectangular-type shape has at least four sides and two ends that must be inspected. If any of the sides are beveled, the beveled surfaces must also be inspected.